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“Yes, you do.”
“No, I don’t,” Luke said. “I have to go. Will you be at dinner this weekend?”
“Oh, probably,” Amy said. “I missed last week’s, and you know how Mom gets.”
“All right. Later, Ames.”
“Goodbye, young Skywalker.”
He rolled his eyes again and left his sister’s office.
* * *
“Hello, Jane!”
“Hi, Tanya.” Jane slowed down and paused at the front desk of the care home. “How are you?”
“Can’t complain. How are you? You’re a little late today.”
“I had an errand to run after work. How is she?”
Tanya hesitated. “It’s been a bad day for her. She’s been confused for most of it.”
Jane sighed. “Okay, thanks.”
“Before you go, I have an envelope for you.” Tanya handed her the envelope, and Jane took it with a distracted smile and continued down the hallway to the last door on the left. She knocked on the door before opening it and entering the small room.
Her foster mother sat in a recliner chair by the window, and a surge of love went through Jane. She hurried over and set her purse and the plastic bag on the floor next to the chair before touching the woman’s hand. “Mama J?”
Mama J stared out the window, and Jane smoothed the wisps of white hair back from her face. “Mama J, it’s Janie. I’m sorry I’m late today.”
Mama J turned her face toward her, and Jane smiled at her. “Hi.”
“Do I know you?”
Sorrow shot through her, and she blinked back the tears. “Yes, my name is Jane. I’m your daughter.”
“You have me mistaken for someone else. I don’t have any children.”
“I’m your foster daughter.”
“Foster daughter? I don’t foster any children.”
“You did, Mama J. You fostered lots of children.”
“That doesn’t sound like me.”
Jane tried to smile at her. “It’s true, I promise.”
She studied the food tray on the small wooden table next to her. “You haven’t eaten your supper.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You should eat. You need to keep up your strength.” She pulled a wooden chair up to the recliner and shrugged out of her coat before picking up the plate of food. She held a forkful of potatoes to the woman’s mouth. “Try a bite, Mama J. It’s good.”
The woman obediently opened her mouth, and they sat silently as Jane fed her. When only a few bites of food were left, the woman shook her head. “I’m full now.”
“You ate lots, that’s good,” Jane said. She glanced at the open door before quickly eating the last of the potatoes and chicken. She set the plate down and held both of Mama J’s hands. “I have a job interview for a better position tomorrow. It’s why I’m late – I had to pick up a new outfit. Would you like to see it?”
